Fallout 3: Twenty One Six
by shichikage77
Summary: The Enclave had been pushed out of the Capital Waste Land. The Brotherhood of Steel have become a power not to be taken lightly on the East! But there have been rumors of a nation rising to the North, with the Pitt at it's head. Can the Lone Wanderer stop the raising tensions? Or will his very existence in the matter lead to a second Nuclear Fallout?
1. Chapter 1

**Twenty One Six**

**Chapter 1**

The gunshot sang out across the wasteland. A super mutant's head splattered against the wall of the capital building. Click. Clang. Chuck. Boom. Had become a repeating noise in his brain. Over and over again. The sound of a rifle emptying a shell, loading another, and firing. Every bullet hitting a target. Be it a large orange foe, or a smaller combantant dressed in green armor.

"Goddamn," Sentinal, Sarah Lyons, muttered beside him. A few more noises of discomfort came from the Lyon's Pride behind her.

...

"Goddamn!" The young Talon Company mecerany screamed as blood and gore splattered across his forest green breast plate. He brought his arms up to cover his face. Not wanting to look at his friend.

The merc beside him, his friend, fell to his knees. Gasping for air, groping at his throat. Trying to stop the blood from draining from the hole in his wind pipe.

The younger merc. quickly jumped behind a fallen block of concrete. A 50. Calibur round chipped off a large piece of his newly aquired cover.

"Their's someone flanking us!" He screamed at the top of his legs. Trying to gain his commander's attenion. Another Merc down the line from him waved to confirm that he had heard him. The other rushed forward towards their commander.

"Garrison! Garrison! Commander!" He called out in vain.

Commander Garrison, a middle aged, gray haired man, turned around to look for his subcordinate. He spotted the man. One of the younger mercs. Nothing but a greenhorn on the team. Garrison raised his eyebrows as he noticed the boy's eyes widen and his mouth gape.

A roar echoed behind him. The Commander span around on his heels. The Super Mutant Overlord was already dragging a supersledge from space towards his head. He let out a silent scream.

The young merc watched as the sledge completely oblitrated his commander's skull. Grayish and red unidentified matter flew everywhere. Coating the supersledge, the ground, and the Overlord alike.

A shiver ran down the boy's spine as another gunshot echoed through out the mall. And part of the Overlord's skull was ripped off. The mutant stumbled back, droping the supersledge. Which landed on the Commander's limp body. The giant mutant let out a dying howl as another shell slamed through his chest. Sending redish green blood everywhere.

...

"Take the Pride, and wipe out any bastard with a talon on their chest. I'll take the mutants." The Lone Wanderer said firmly. Never taking his eyes from the sniper rifle's scope.

"Got it." Sarah nodded.

"Wait a damn minute. We've fought enough muties without you, we can take'em." Dusk, one of the Pride, pushed forward. He sniper rifle hanging loosely in her hand.

"Dusk." Clovin said, putting a an armored hand on her soldier. The young sniper turned her head away. Anger making her cheeks red. She slipped the helmet on and stalked to stand behind Kodak.

Sarah took a deep breath, and slowly released it after hearing the click of her helmet. Reaching over her shoulder, she grabbed the stalk of her laser rifle. The power armor's enchanted strenght allowing her to pull it off of the magnetic weapon holder.

"Alright," She pointed towards the doors of the Capital building,"Move out!"

...

The young merc opened his mouth to scream, but a laser shot through his chest before the sound left him. A second Talon Company soldier brought his gun up and fired off a few rounds.

Bullets pingged off of Sarah's armor. She turned, bringing the laser up as she twisted. Two pulls of the trigger sent the soldier who had attempted to kill her, to his knees. Smoking holes in stomach.

She bit her lip underneath the steel helmet. How many lives had she taken in the twenty five years of her life? Sarah chalked down another "X" on the imaginary list. She hadn't killed them. The wasteland is just a hard place.

"AHH!" The scream came from beside her. Breaking her train of thought. Sarah turned quickly. Her Brotherhood training taking over.

The merc infront of her slashed with his combat knife for the unprotected parts of her armor. Near the waist. Without thinking Sarah jumped back. Narrowly dodging the blow.

A moment later the mercanary's head exploded. Launching blood and brain matter open Sarah's armor. Coating her visor.

She glanced at the glint of a sniper's scope. Gallows had saved her.

...

"Nice shot..." The Wanderer muttered. Firing again. Killing another mutant at the top of the Capital's stairs.

Gallows grunted in acknowledgement, before pumping another round into the chamber and rising the gun back to his shoulder.

...

The rest of the Pride were mowing down Talon Company soldiers. Gallows and the Wanderer seemed to keep most of the mutants at bay.

Sarah set forth. Slowly manevering through the bodies. Most of then had smoking holes in them, from being scortched by lasers. Even more had bits and pieces missing from the rifle fire.

She glanced to her left. Palivan Glade held his minigun at ready. To her right, Vargas was picking his way around a couple of super mutant Master corspes.

"Fall in!" She called out to the others. The Mall had become deadly silent. Her voice seeming to echo in the quietness. Sarah felt a shiver run down her spine. Something was off. Very off. But there was no turning back now.

The Pride slowly filled into their spaces in a battle formation. Sarah took the lead. They walked up the stairs. Pushing pass the fallen mutant corspes. Not even the Talon Company had made it this far.

A shimmer ran through the air infront of her. Knight Captain Dusk brought her sniper rifle on par with the shimmer. The Lone Wanderer materialized in front of them. His dark green duster blowing slightly with the breeze. A scraff warped the lower half of his face, obscening it from view. His messy black hair hung in his eyes.

The young man raised his eye brows in question of the gun. Dusk begrudingly lowered her weapon. Not intent on making the Wanderer angry. She had heard stories about people who made the Wanderer angry. And those stories never had a happy ending.

Spinning on his heels, the Wanderer started towards the entrance to the Capital.

"Wait! Where the hell is Gallows?" Kodiak question.

"He said he'll be up in a few minutes." The Wanderer said, opening the door and entering the Capital building.

Kodiak glanced around at the rest of the pride. Vargas shrugged his armored shoulders. Clovin and Glade both looked to Sarah for orders.

Sential Lyons nodded. "Alright, this is close quarters combat. We stick together and cover each other's backs. Move in!" She called to her Pride. They slowly advanced into the building.

Five corpses scattered the main lobby. Two Talon mercs layed spread eagle on the front desk. Something had penterated their armor. Leaving a bloody, nasty looking hole in both of their chest.

Two more super mutant corpses lay thrown on the lobby floor. Each vasting in a pool of greenish, red blood. The one on the left neck was sliced open. It's orange brother had serival gunshot wounds on his face, leaving it completely unidentifable.

The fifth body sit at the Wanderer's dangling feet. The young man was perched atop a fallen stone pillar. Looking bored as the Pride came in. The merc body at his feet had a Chinese Officer sword protruding from his chest. The blade slamed through the metal and penterating the heart.

Taking a deep breath, the Wanderer hopped off the stone pillar. He grabbed the blade's handle and yanked on it. It came free with a sickening sound of steel sliding against wet flesh.

After flicking the blood off the blade, the Wanderer nodded towards a large door behind the circular center desk.

"There should be a corridor through that door. After we navigate it. We should end up in the center of this building. We'll kill anything that moves. Once we make it to the center. Vargas will swipe the area with the Pride." The young man took another breath and stepped towards the door.

"You can't order us around!" Knight Captain Dusk, having pushed her way out of formation, snapped at the young man's back. He glanced over his shoulder at her. The color seemed to fade from the Knight Captain's flesh. She became quiet. The young man's unblinking blue gaze never leaving her. His eyes seeming to bare holes through her face.

She gulped and stepped back into the Pride's battle formation.

The Wanderer's unchanging eyes turned back, he pulled the door open. It squeaked loudly from years of not having it's hinges oiled. Without a second to waste, the dark haired boy stepped in.

...

Moving towards the door, the Pride took up the rear.

Sarah flinched in her armor as a grenade exploded on the other side of the door. The shock wave shaking the buildings foundation.

"Shit! We want this place intact!" Glade called loudly. Hosing the minigun off his shoulder. Sarah glanced at the older soldier. He nodded back. The Pride pushed into the door.

All hell had broken loose inside the small corridor. Ten feet infront of them, a large super mutant Master casually ripped off one of the Talon Company's merc's leg. The beast, enraged, turned. Slaming his giant fist into some other unfortunate merc. The man had flew back with a yell. Hit the wall, and fall to the ground without another sound.

Farther down the hall, a group of five mercs were unloading their weapons at a super mutant Brute. Trying to gun down the angry abonination. Their attempts only pinging off his armor.

"Guns free!" Sarah and Vargas called siminatously back to the rest of the Pride. Each bringing their laser rifles up and firing into the chaos.

The Master screamed in rage as a bolt of super heated light slamed through his left arm. He turn towards the Pride. Sticking one knee out in front of the other. And bending his head downwards, preparing to charge them.

Glade stepped out of formation. Coming to stand side-by-side with Vargas. He steadied the huge gun on point with the super mutant.

A hail of bullets littered the enclosed hall way. Hot lead peircing the mutant's makeshift armor. And ripping off parts of his body. Blood and gore flying everywhere.

Somewhere down the hall, a man shreiked at the top of his lungs.

"Alright, move in. Kill anything that moves!" Sarah yelled over the gun fire that echoed in the dome shaped building.

The Pride set forth, guning down super mutants and Talon Company alike.

...

The Wanderer grunted as he used all his upper muslce strenght to hoist his body onto a support beam. The ancient concrete was firm enought to hold his weight. Or so he hoped anyway.

He had dropped his rifle somewhere in the chaos below. One of the mutants or merceraries had probably picked it up. But that didn't matter.

Crouching, the young man moved down the beam. It hadn't taken much to find a way up. A couple grenades, and one fallen pillar later, had created a nice little path.

All that had to be done now was going to the main chamber. Well he didn't really have to. The Wanderer had only came because Sarah Lyons had asked him. Not for the good of the Brotherhood. But because of that damn blonde girl.

He sighed. Unshouldered the chinese assault rifle, and pushed forward.

On the ground floor, hell had broken loose. Mutants were fighting Talon Company, Talon Company was fighting Mutants, and both were fighting Brotherhood.

Was this damned building really worth the trouble?

He had asked himself that over and over again. Each syllebal ran through his head. The young reached up to tuck a noisey strand of black hair behind his ear.

Quickly, he made his way through the interlapping beams, that held the building's roof up. Within a few minutes, the Wanderer had found the central chamber.

"Damn it." He breathed into the thick green cloth wrapped around the lower half of his face. It had been fashioned in the form of a scarff.

Down below him, the giant super mutant. A Benometh. Howled. It's roar shaking the building like an earthquake.

The Wanderer grabbed onto the beam below him to keep from falling.

What the hell are you doing!?

The dark haired man screamed out in his mind. Two Talon Company mercs were lifting up a Fat Man. Or a Miniture Nuclear Catapult.

...

ROAR!

Everyone stopped. The world seemed to freeze for a minute. Not even the super mutants were shooting back.

Sarah looked up. The building itself was shaking.

"Benometh." She spoke quietly. Not sure if the others could hear her.

"Benometh." Vargas agreed from beside her.

The building jerked as the rest of the super mutants crowding the hallway skreiked out in reception.

A light blazed at the end of the hallway. Blowing a hole in the concrete. Sending the two wooden doors, along with two Talon Company mercs, flying.

Seven men wearing the forest green of the Talon Company burst in. Six of them had shotguns. The men parted. Runing through the rubble, they had just littered across the floor. Three to each side. They began to fire.

The shotguns doing extreme damage at close range. Blood and gore seemed to splatter everywhere. The smoke slowly cleared to reveal the last man. A mountain of a man at that. Standing nearly as tall as the super mutants. He had a Gattling Laser in his arms. His armor was patched worked. Probably because they couldn't find a standard suit to fit him.

The giant started to unload his clips into the mutants.

Vargas was shoved aside. Stumbling into Sarah as he tripped. She caught him in her arms. And looked over to see what had moved him.

Knight Captain Dusk had her sniper rifle planted firmly against her shoulder. She pulled the trigger. The report of the gun echoing in the halls.

The Gattling Laser touting man at the end of the hall's head exploded. His now decaptitated body stumbled forward a few steps before, dropping the miniture looking weapon, well it looked miniture compared to him anyway, falling to his knees.

"Confídunt in ferro, Brothers!" Dusk called back to the Pride behind her. The small squad roared to life behind her.

Sarah smiled beneath her helmet, helping Vargas upright. Dusk may not like the Wanderer but she did know how to get morale up. Vargas laughed infront of her.

Reaching up to her helmet. She clicked the small button on the side, that allowed for the speaker to be turned on and off. It was to only be used in emergency situations.

Static crackled through each of the Pride's com-links.

"

Confídunt in ferro, Brothers!" She called out, minmicing her comrade.

"Confídunt in ferro!" Every member of the Pride roared into their microphones.

Dusk glanced back her. Sarah nodded.

"Let's go!" She yelled to them.

The Lyon's Pride surged forward. Determined to make it to the center of the Capital Building.

...

The Lone Wanderer raised his assault rifle. Emptying the clip at the two men with the Fat Man.

But it was to late.

The mini nuke was already arching through the air towards the giant super mutant.

Those idiots! There would be hell to pay for this!

The explosion shook the building like it was judgement day.

**So today is the day I finally delete "Fallout New Vegas: Betrayal of a Ranger." And start on this new series. Sorry for the inconvenience of the spelling and grammar in this fic. My Word has been acting up lately. **

**Btw "Confídunt in ferro" means Trust in Steel. I thought it was a nice motto for the Brotherhood of Steel, since I coudn't find out what "In Steel We Trust" is in Latin. If anyone knows how to say that in Latin, it would be gladly appreciated.**

**"Confídunt in ferro, Brothers!" is basically from the U.S. marine motto "Semper Fidelis, Marine!" **


	2. Chapter 2

**Fallout 3: Twenty One Six**

**Chapter 2**

The Wanderer's scream was drowned out by the explosion, that seemed to rock the Earth to it's very core. The mini nuke had contacted the ground right after the Wanderer had killed the Fat Man's wielders. But it had been to late. They had already launched the damned thing. Nuclear fire blossomed in the dome shaped chamber below him. Roasting anything in it's small radius, blowing away parts of the floor, leaving a crater in the center. The super mutant behemoth had escaped the worst of the blast. But his limp identified that he had been hit. Gun shots echoed down in the central chamber as Talon Company and the super mutants resumed their fight. Slowly, but surely, the Wanderer looked around. Trying to get his bearings back after the shake of the explosion. His eyes widened. The spider web like cracks at the end of the concrete beam was not a good thing. One wrong move could bring down this beam and half the roof. This was bad. Very bad. The young man's eyes glanced around quickly. He growled in irritation as a strand of black hair fell into his eyes. If he moved to fix it, it could mean death by falling. Was this some kind of cruel joke? Groaning, the Behemoth slowly gained his balance. Swinging it's arms in an outwards fashion. Not caring for anyone that got in the way. Be they Talon Company or super mutant, alike. The movement was shaking the building. This was bad. This was bad! This place wasn't worth it! With a mighty roar, the behemoth's hand slammed into the wall of the Capital Building. Rattling the entire thing. The web like cracks spread up the wall. The ones on the beams, came ever so closer. A plan formed inside the Wanderer's head. This kind of quick thinking had saved his life on more then one occasion! His hand shot out like a rocket. Ripping the combat knife from it's sheath at his belt. The beam squealed loudly. The cracks, now dangerously close, seemed to spread farther. Attracted by the noise, the giant mutant looked up. Catching site of the Wanderer. It roared again. Screaming at the top of it's lungs. The Wanderer rolled into a crouch. The beam's supports snapped like twigs underneath him. Pieces of it, along with chucks of the wall began to fall towards the floor. Carrying the Wanderer with them. His gloved hand clasped onto a hole in the cracked cement. He was still in his crouching position as the huge beam crashed downwards, gravity pulling it to the floor. "FUCK!" The young man screamed! His own voice being drowned out by the panic from below. Using his feet, the Wanderer propelled himself off the falling concrete block! The world seemed to go in slow motion as he flew through the air. His arms out in front him. Combat knife clasped in a death grip. The Pillar colliding down! It hit the ground below with a thundering crash! Killing whatever was unfortunate to be in it's free fall path. Was it possible for a mutant to show surprise? He didn't know, but the Behemoth did look quite frighten by what was unveiling. The Wanderer slammed into the beast's chest. The hit knocking the breath from his lungs. He quickly thrust the combat knife into the mutant's hide. It was surprising how soft it was right here. Refusing to look down, the Wanderer reached down and pulled a plasma grenade from his pouch. Swinging his feet up, the young man used them to keep his balance as the mutant thrashed about. He brought the plasma grenade to his mouth. Ripped the pin out with his teeth, and held it for a few seconds. One. Two. Three. Four. FIVE! The grenade sailed upwards. Rearing back, the Behemoth screamed in rage. The sound deafening! No! No! No! The Wanderer roared in his mind! NO! The plasma grenade began to arch downwards. He hadn't timed it right! It wasn't going to explode! At least not were he wanted. Shit! If it came back down, there was a chance he'd be trapped in the blast! With his free hand he snatched the 10mm pistol from it's holster at his waist. Letting go, the Wanderer performed the same trick he did on the pillar. Using his feet he propelled backwards! This time without a sound. Aiming upwards. The Wanderer took a deep breath. The world around him seemed to stop. Time itself had seemed to become still. Within seconds the grenade took on a green tint. Taking aim, he fired the 10mm pistol. The bullet rushing through the air at high speeds, before slamming into the grenade. It was all over in a seconds. The metal cylinder erupted into a huge mass of green, sending it's plasma everywhere. The green light engulfed the super mutant's head. The Wanderer free fell to the ground. Hitting it with a thud. A loud crack echoing his impact. His vision started to fade between black and white. He gulped in huge amounts of air. Something had broke. Some bone had snapped! "Sarah..." He breathed out slightly. The edges of his line of sight was black. The last thing he saw was the behemoth's large body falling backwards. It's face nearly scorched off from the plasma burns. He smiled lightly, as the darkness engulfed him.

...

Sarah raised her laser rifle, firing four shots off into the super mutant Brute. The thing fell with a scream. A good portion of it's stomach was blown always, leaving only smoking, charred craters. Paladin Glade was beside her. His minigun ripping the enemies in front of them to pieces. Vargas and Kodiak stood to her left, each firing down the hall. The building began to shake like a hurricane. Two explosions rang out in the distance. The noise played over the gunfire, it was followed by the sound of something crashing. Sarah lost her footing, the carpeted floor filling her gaze as she plummeted to the ground. She was stopped mid-air by Vargas's hands. He had dropped his rifle and rushed to stop her from falling. The discarded weapon now lay at, who came to take up Vargas's position, Dusk's feet. "You alright, Soldier?" Vargas's gruff voice rumbled over the static of her com-link. "Yea, just lost my footing, Paladin," The static making her voice crackle. The Paladin slowly dragged her to her feet. "The fight ain't over yet, Sentinel. You ain't getting out of it this easy," He said, his voice seeming to mix with the static. She reached down to grab her fallen rifle as Vargas helped her up. "Wouldn't dream of leaving," Sarah said back to him. Her voice firmer then she'd met it to be. He nodded to her, and reached for his own rifle. To her right, Paladin Glade stepped forward. Waving his Minigun from left to right. Gunning down anything that got in his way. Following his lead, Sarah fell into a line behind him. The rest of the Pride quickly did the same as their leader. They cleared the hallway fast enough. As the small group neared the hole in the wall, they saw what had caused the earlier explosion. And the site was not in the least welcoming. The entire center of the building had collapsed in on it's self. Super mutants of all types were fighting against the Talon Company inside circle chamber. Rumble and debris was everywhere, and most of the enemies were perched atop piles of it. Trying to gun down one another. In the center of all the fallen concrete and other random debris laid the huge corpse of a super mutant behemoth. The top half of it's skull was melted away, a green goo pooled around it's head. The lower half of it's face was charred and slowly melting. "Good God," Colvin muttered. The sound echoing through their speakers. It was answered with reports of all different types of guns. And the scream of wounded men. Each of their blood curling cries sent a shiver down Sarah's spine. Those screams were closer to home then she would have wished. She took a deep breath. Closing her eyes briefly. A hand landed on her shoulder. "Don't break down on us now, Sentinel." Glade's soothing voice echoed in her headset. She nodded to the Paladin. Vargas stepped up beside them. "Alright Pride. Let's show'em how furious Lions can be!" Vargas yelled into his microphone. Cheers and encouragement raised up through the Pride. They rushed into the wreckages guns blazing!

...

"Alright Pride. Let's show'em how furious Lions can be!" Crackled through the static in his headset. Gallows reached up and hit the button to turn off the com-link. He was alone. He worked alone. The man had witnessed the dome of the central chamber collapse, as he was scouting around back of the building. Fearing the worst, he had unshouldered his rifle and ran in. Now he was here. Standing in head-high debris, shooting anything that moved. The Wanderer's limp body at his feet. Gallows suspected that the young man had something to do with the building coming down. But he had no evidence to encourage or disagree with his theory. So for now his purpose was to protect the body. Even if he didn't know if the kid, well a kid by his standards, would make it. You never leave a Brother behind. Never. That was the first rule that was beat into you, when you grew up in the Brotherhood of Steel. He fired off shot after shot. Each rewarding a scream of pain, or silence. Both were welcomed. A mutie climbed atop one of the fallen pillars to his left. He span around, firing the gun without taking aim. The mutant screamed in pain, as the 50. Caliber shell tore through his arm. It's arms waving, the thing fell back down the pile. Surprisingly enough, the mutants and mercs alike had discovered that coming in the Knight Captain's velocity met death. So most of them stirred clear, and fought each other at different parts of the fallen building. Gallows glanced down to the body at his feet when he heard it groan.

...

Everything seemed to consort, and then distort at once. Somehow the entire room was spinning, and his vision was an assortment of different colors. Each of them to bright. They hurt his eyes. The Wanderer wanted nothing more then to close his eyes, and give up. But giving up doesn't make you a legend. He inhaled deeply. Pain shot through his chest like a bullet. So something had punctured at least one of his lungs. That was nice to know. Each movement caused more pain. He flexed his fingers. Right hand? It was okay. Left hand? Fuck! The young man screamed in his head. So his left hand was broken. That fall had taken more out of him then he had thought. This wasn't even counting the ribs he was sure were broke. Using his right hand as leverage, the dark haired boy pushed himself into a sitting position. Every thing hurt. A soft groan left his mouth. "Stay down." A gruff, filtered voice commanded. The Wanderer looked for the second person. Hopefully, it wasn't Talon Company. It couldn't be a mutant. They didn't talk that well. Well most of them didn't. A power armored figure stood over him. A rifle pressed to his shoulder. Firing repeatedly at anything that was stupid enough to get in his sight. The armored figure distorted into an array of colors, before fading to black and white. The Wanderer gasped. He couldn't stay awake. His only hope was the Angel in Armor. The dark haired boy collapsed back into the rumble beneath him. The pain was to great to withstand. A gun shot echoed above his head. It was the last thing he heard as his vision faded away for the second time that day.

...

**Well here's chapter 2. Let your minds wander! Do you guys think I made the Wanderer to OP? Sorry guys, the centering of the text got messed up in this chapter ._. Not sure how it got off _ Sorry about it. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Fallout 3: Twenty One Six**

**Chapter 3**

The entire building had collasped in on it's self. The Pride had only barely gotten out alive. Clovin had injuried his leg while carrying the Wanderer's limp body.

Sarah took her helmet off. Throwing it to ground. She doubled over, her hands clapped on her knees. Panting as the wasteland's stale air hit them.

Clovin laid the Wanderer's body beside her. Taking his own helmet off, as he observed the ruins of a once grand building.

The rest of the Pride had gathered around the Wanderer's body. The young man looked as if the world had chewed him up and spit out the remains. His usually black hair was matted and covered in dried blood. The fingers on his left hand were twisted in awkward directions.

Only the slow up and down movement of his chest showed what little life the boy still had in him. The sun light glowed directly down onto him. Making his pale skin glow. Despist having been in the cruel wasteland sun for three years. The boy's skin never seemed to darken.

"Is...is he going to be alright?" Kodiak asked the question on everyone's mind.

As if in answer to the man's question. The Wanderer's blueish green eyes shot open.

Kodiak, along with the rest of the Pride stumbled back. Shocked at the sudden movement of the boy.

Sarah pushed forward. Looking at him in horror.

A sickening crack sounded as he moved his fingers. Forcing them back into place. With a grunt he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Goddamn kid, are you alright?" Glade asked from his left. His minigun sitting at his armored feet.

"Where's my guns?" The Wanderer asked. His gaze locked on the debris.

Sarah crouched infront of him. "We couldn't get them, we barely got you out alive." She said.

She'd never noticed how old the boy's eyes made him look. His body said twenty-two. But his eyes said a hundred. The cold blue orbs were glazed over.

The Wanderer jumped up. Only winsing slightly. But not making a sound. "I need to find my sword." With that he pushed his way pass Vargas and Kodiak.

"Hey kid! Wait what are you-" Vargas cut his own sentence off as he watched the dark haired boy scrumble through the wreckage.

The second-in-command of the Pride, sit there, blinking as he watched the boy climb out of the debris. A green piece of cloth wrapped around the lower half of his face. Part of it was burnt black. Yet it still did it's job of covering him.

In his left hand he held a Chinese officer's sword. Unlike the normal ones, this one had serival designs carved into to it. No wonder the Wanderer wanted to keep the artifact.

The young man jumped down from a fallen pillar. Landing on his feet, before standing up straight, he stared back at them boringly. He looked as if he hadn't just returned from the dead.

"You guys should head back to the Citadel." He said, sliding his sword through a belt loop.

"What do you mean 'you guys', Aren't you coming with us?" Kodiak asked. Finally over the his fear. The Wanderer shook his head in response.

"Of course not, but I will make sure the path is clear." He reached down and pulled out a .32 pistol that was tucked in his waist band. After checking the weapon, he slide it back in place.

"You're a soldier of the Brotherhood of Steel, you need to come with us." Sarah said. Picking her helmet up from the ground.

"Well I'm not," The Wanderer said, wiping a combat knife on his pants leg. "I have more important things to do. I'll baby sit this squad until we get out of D.C., but after that, I'm jumping ship."

"Babysit? We don't need you!" Dusk yelled from the back of the Pride. The rest of the members stood silently. Watching the boy infront of them, check what gear he had left.

"Or, I could just walk away and let you go back by yourself." Finished checking his weapons, the Wanderer slide his hands in his pockets. He raised his eyebrows, waiting on an answer.

"Maybe you should do that!" Dusk yelled angerly. The Wanderer nodded.

"Alright." He turned on his heels. His back to the Pride. "I have stuff I need to do around here anyway."

"Wait, wait, you just broke every bone in your body, you need to come with us," Glade tried to convince the Wanderer.

"I'll catch up later." He said. "Sarah, tell your dad I'll meet him later."

The girl nodded. Even though the Wanderer couldn't see her, she was sure he had somehow acknowledged the movement.

With that settled. The Wanderer set off down the worn stairs. The Pride watched as he jumped from the fifth stair, onto the ground. He casually walked to a metro station. Sarah wasn't sure which one, since the D.C. area was covered in them.

The Wanderer glanced over his shoulder one last time. Before disappearing into the darkness. Letting the gate slam shut with a loud creak. That seemed to echo in the silent mall.

Sarah took a deep breath and turned to the Pride. "Move out, double time! We need to make it home."

"Yes, ma'ams" and nods ran through the small squad. Sarah nodded her approval. She lifted the laser rifle over her back. It magnetized it's self to her armor with a click.

She performed an about face. And set out down the stairs. The sun high over their heads. Slowly the Pride fell in line behind her.

...

The gate closed with a loud squeal. Such an annoying sound. But it happened quite often in the Wasteland, since noone was around to oil the hinges for over five-hundred years.

But, that sound never happened in the vault. All the doors were kept clean, and working. Unless Stanley had been sick or something, and he couldn't do his daily runs.

The Wanderer stopped. He shook his head. The vault was gone. It was no longer his home. They had kicked him out. They had killed Jonas. SHE had kicked him out.

"I'm the Lone Wanderer." He muttered to himself. "Demon of the Capital, The Last Best Hope For Humanity." Trying to shake away the memories. They hurt more then any psyichal wound he had ever suffered. And he was the only one who could deal with them. He couldn't tell anyone else, or do anything about it. Just tuck them at the back of his mind, and march forward.

_You're Benjamin Harden. Ben, the son of James Harden. A Vault Dweller. A Human. Not some war machine. _A familar voice echoed in his head. His father's voice.

The Wanderer was suprised at the animal-like sound that came from his mouth. He sighed and leaned against the tunnel's wall. Slowly sliding down it. Finally ending in a fettle position on the floor. His knees pulled to his chest.

"Benjamin "Ben" Harden," He choked out softly. Staring at his gloved hands. The Wanderer sniffled softly. "I'm...the Lone Wanderer."

Blinking, he picked himself off the ground. All signs of emotion gone. The Lone Wanderer walked down the darken halls of the metro station.

...1 hour later...

The ghoul cried out as the combat knife ripped his stomach open. Spilling it's guts every where. The Wanderer danced backwards to avoid the mess. A howl alerted a second one, turning on his heels in a single movement. The Wanderer threw the knife. It impaled into the abonimations throat. Making the thing fall to it's knees. Blood drifted down it's chest, and puddeled on the floor.

He paused to look around. Four feral ghoul corpses littered the floor, along with some unlucky bastard's skeleton. The Wanderer sighed and glanced around. It seemed that he had cleared the ghouls out for now. So that should allow Sarah and the Pride safe passage through this tunnel. Not like their power armor wouldn't have stopped the feral ghoul's attacks, but still you could never be certain.

A beep rang from his Pip-Boy. The Wanderer looked down already knowing what to expect. Scribled across the screen was an Email interface. He had set up a terminal at the Regulator HQ not long ago, so they could keep in touch with him. If he was in signal range.

Sighing, he tapped his finger on a small icon of a letter. The screen quickly changed, and words scrolled across it.

"_Hey Lone, Sonora says you should check this... 'thing' out. _

_-Regs"_

The Wanderer frowned at the screen. A... "Thing". It had to be important, otherwise the Regulators wouldn't have called him. They knew the system was only for emergencies.

Now he had to get out of this metro-system. Which would be easy. But the hard part was deciding wether if he should help the Pride first, or head straight to the Regulator HQ.

The Lone Wanderer sighed. Descisions, descisions. He set off in a brisk walk. Sticking to the shadows as he guided down the tunnels.

**Guys, I'm sorry about any errors. This chapter was written at late hours of the night. Now I need my sleep. U_U**


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